Bond (Klein Brothers 1)

“Which he should have done, anyway. And I don’t judge single moms, and neither does my family. In fact, I doubt many people in Piersville would do that.”

“There are a couple,” she mumbled under her breath, but I heard it regardless.

“Well, you’re going to tell me their names so that I can shield you from their bullshit assumptions next time we see them. If any of them are women, I’ll bet Mom would love to educate them on where they went wrong.”

Heidi bit down on a smile as she waved her hand through the air. “I just avoid them now. But my point was, people do judge, and I don’t care what others think about me, but I do care what you think.”

A breeze ruffled her hair, pushing a lock of it onto her cheek that I brushed away. “I’ve already told you and shown you what I think of you, baby. There are always people who judge others, but usually, it’s to try and make themselves feel better about their own skeletons.

“What I see when I look at you is a strong businesswoman and mother who works hard to support and provide for her child. Yes, I find it weird that there’s a hole in the wall separating your stairs from the living room, but I’m not judging you on it.”

Her shoulders were shaking again as she laughed. “Fucking Cash.”

“Are we talking money or your brother just now?”

“Brother. He slipped down the stairs and went through the wall. My insurance company is waiting for the third company to submit a quote for the repairs to them, so until then, we’re an open plan living room household.”

I didn’t even know what to say about that, even though Reid had already told me about her brother’s mishap. I’d already told her about the dog eating Canon’s cigarette and my rubber, and that didn’t even begin to cover the stupid shit we’d done, both as kids and as adults. But going through a wall because we’d fallen down the stairs? I can’t say out of the four of us we’d even come close to that level of destruction.

So I dropped it and decided to ask questions about it later. What was important was helping Heidi see for sure I didn’t judge her.

“Tell me about Joel.”

The humor on her face disappeared, like someone had turned off a light with the flick of a switch.

“I met him when I was hired to make a cake for a large and well-known gallery in New York. I’m not allowed to say which one because there was a non-disclosure agreement, but if you were to look it up online, you’d see it.” I was intrigued by this, so I made a mental note to do that one day.

“Joel’s good looking, but he’s also very quiet and sticks to the sidelines. People assume he’d be brash and forward because of his last name, but he actually hates it and wants to change it legally.”

I just blinked at this nugget. Why not just do it and put as many barriers between you and the family you don’t like as possible?

“He’s spoken to a lawyer about it and is planning to go ahead, but he has some other loose ends he needs to tie up first, apparently. I don’t know what they are, but they seemed important to him.”

When I just nodded, she snorted and shook her head. “Sorry, I digressed on the story, but I guess I just don’t want you to see him as a bad guy, because he isn’t. I also know he’s telling the truth because I saw his reaction to his mom and pieced it together with how he acts and hides when he can. I just don’t see how it could all be a lie.”

“Sometimes when we hear things, Heidi, it can all sound farfetched and like a well-acted ruse. It isn’t until we see it that we can confirm if it’s the truth or not. You saw him, you saw him with her briefly, and he likely told you some things that helped you piece it all together. If you say it’s the truth and he’s not a bad guy, that’s what we go with for yours and Nemi’s sakes.”

She smiled gratefully at me, and I reminded myself to keep an open mind about what she was about to tell me. Just because I’d heard stories about men lying to get away from their responsibilities or to bag a chick, didn’t mean Nemi’s dad had, too.

“So, we started dating. It was one of those relationships where you like the other person, but you don’t see yourself with them for the rest of your life. Do you know what I mean?”

I winced slightly. “I’ve never met someone and been in a committed relationship with them.” This time, Heidi was the one who winced, so I felt it pertinent to add, “You know you’re different. There’s no way I’d mess you or Nemi around like that.”